The Civil Rights Movement: The 2nd Wave Of Feminism

Since there was many educational opportunities for women it began to lead more and more women to find their potential meaningful of their individual professional career. Also women 's salaries increased but not to the amount that men received. Even though women did not quite make as much as men do, it still felt like a huge accomplishment because it was much better circumstances than they had before. In 1972 the Equal Rights Amendment passed which lingered around congress for nearly fifty-five years. The wording of the ERA was simply understood: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Dakota Hitchcock HIS 200: Applied History Southern New Hampshire University March 5th, 2023 The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment is a significant historical event due to its battle to end legal and social discrimination against women. During the time period, women did not have the same privileges as men regarding employment, divorce rights, property rights, and the many social privileges men had. This amendment was drafted by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923 and was fought for by women and supporters across America shortly after women gained the right to vote after the 19th Amendment was passed on August 20th, 1920. Despite ERA fighting for equality by being a “proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed

Equal Rights “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights it is time now to write the next chapter- and to write it in the books of laws.” Lyndon B. Johnson. An Equal Right amendment was first passed by women political party in 1923. It didn’t pass and it took four decades for a revival into congress. It seemed like it was going to be passed back in 1971 when it was approved by ⅔ vote from the House of Representatives in October of that year.

The second amendment is the 14th amendment, which guarantees citizens equal rights under the law, but it does not specifically mention women. If the ERA is put in place, then women will finally have an amendment in the Constitution that specifically guarantees equal rights under the

Those speaking for the working class were strongly opposed, arguing that employed women needed special protections regarding working conditions and hours. In 1972, it passed both houses of Congress and was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. It seemed headed for quick approval until Phyllis Schlafly mobilized conservative women

“To supporters of mothers' pensions and laws limiting women's hours of labor, which the ERA would sweep away, the proposal represented a giant step backward”.(Foner, 766) However in the end the amendment failed. “The ERA campaign failed, and only six states ratified

The 1970s were a rough year for African-Americans, still fighting for social and political rights in the United States. Consequently, women still did not receive equal rights. However, in 1972, “Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, which reads: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex’ (History.com Staff).” Out of the thirty-eight necessary states only twenty-two ratified it right away, it was relieving for the moment because the feminist advocates had been trying to be ratified since 1923. The First African-American woman elected into Congress was Shirley Chisholm.

The 20th century saw a major increase in women’s rights, getting a step nearer to gender equality. It is defined as the act of treating men and women equally, having the same access to right and opportunities no matter the gender. Although it is not a reality in our world, we do have advanced in comparison to the last century. At the begging of the 20th century women still were considered the weak gender. Their education consisted on learning practical skills such as sewing, cooking, and using the new domestic inventions of the era; unfortunately, this “formal training offered women little advantage in the struggle for stable work at a liveable wage” (1).

In 1923, the ERA written by Alice, was introduced into Congress. The Amendment declared “equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of sex” (“Woman Suffrage”, 2014, para 1). The Amendment was introduced into every Congress through 1972, where it finally passed but failed ratification in 1982. Only 35 states ratified the Amendment by the 1982 deadline. After the failure, the Amendment was again presented to Congress every year, but still fails to get passed.

In the early 20th century, women fought for the right to vote. After more than half a century of continuous activism, the 19th amendment was passed, granting women voting rights. This triumph was merely the beginning of what the women’s rights movement would accomplish. Over the next several decades, women campaigned for policies which challenged societal norms and gave them equal footing with men. Pinpointing a sole cause of this movement has proved to be somewhat problematic, as there are several factors to its rise.

The United States of America is a relatively new country that evolved exceptionally fast. Yet the common ideas of gender haven't evolved much. Namely, many historical events were accomplished by women or involved women; however, they aren't taught in high school. Most, if not all, educated individuals know these great male historical figures that influenced the US: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, and etc. Most of 'American history' is white men history, or better summarized as (his)story.

Before beginning this research project, could anyone name a female, besides Rosa Parks, involved in the Civil Rights movement? Don’t worry, I couldn’t name anyone either. Rosa Parks made so many amazing contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. However, there are many women just like Rosa in the Civil Rights movement who go nearly unrecognized for the acts they took during this time. One example of a powerful and impactful woman during the Civil Rights movement is Dorothy Height.

Gender equality: the pinnacle concept that American society is not-so desperately trying to achieve. Many Americans have convinced themselves that gender equality was remedied by the Nineteenth Amendment and the Second Feminist Movement, and have not considered the thousands of steps that are left on the journey. In recent years, a matter of public interest has been the gender wage gap, stating that women are earning significantly less money than men for doing an equivalent amount of work. Critics of the effort to “break the glass ceiling” claim that a pay gap does not exist, and that if it does, it is because women either do not work as hard, have to tend to their families, or hold lower paying jobs. However, the gender pay gap has been proven to exist in a variety of different forms,

The women’s rights movement being an extensive movement helped women to occupy better jobs and higher positions “Increased access to leadership positions is an important achievement because – in terms of gender – the field is more level now: some women will be allies, some are not, but no one is excluded only for being a woman”. Today, women can choose to occupy the jobs that were once titled only for men and they have an equal employment opportunity “Because of workplace rights, women enjoy freedom to work in almost any position they choose. They join the armed forces, work as cab drivers, own businesses and become executives in large corporations” Women can now become ministers, juries, senates, and even the president “1975 — In Taylor v. Louisiana, the court denies states the right to exclude women from juries….1981 — Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed as the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice… 1997 — Madeleine Albright is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State. She is the first woman in this position.”

Now women are lawyers, engineers, mechanics, computer programmers, and other jobs that have been primarily male dominated for years. Although sexism has been a key problem in the working industry, as evidenced by putting women in lower paying jobs, women today are putting an end by joining the women's movement pushing this issue into the mainstream media and increasing the worlds awareness on an issue that has been around for centuries. Although there were no movements specifically for women's rights to work there were movements for women's rights as a whole. As history tells, men did not believe women had the